Solar House Tour To Shine Light On Possible Energy Alternatives

EAST WINDSOR — When they were househunting, Carl and Cathy Magill cared more about location and price tags than fuels and furnaces.

They fell in love with a small house on Melrose Road.

``What caught our eye was the sunlight. It's nice and bright,'' Cathy Magill said. Solar energy wasn't their first priority. ``We were more interested in how much it was going to cost us.''

They discovered that the house, which will be featured on a solar home tour Saturday, is so energy- efficient that their year-round electric bills average $80 a month, even with a toddler and an electric clothes dryer.

The south side of the house has windows, while the other sides are insulated by earth berms.

``On the nice sunny days, it can be around 70 to 75 degrees in here. The problem is it gets uncomfortably hot in the middle of winter,'' Magill said.

The Magill house, along with another house in East Windsor and houses in Ellington, Somers and Tolland, are on the 20th annual solar energy house tour sponsored by People's Action for Clean Energy.

``The goal is to try to help people realize that there are other forms of energy than the destructive ones we are presently using,'' said Judi Friedman of Canton, chairwoman of the group. Among them are passive solar energy, solar hot water, and solar electric energy.

``These are options for homeowners and utilities, and we need to be considering them, especially since our nuclear plants have been declared among the most dangerous in the U.S.,'' she said, referring to the Millstone nuclear power plants owned by Northeast Utilities. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in January placed the three plants on its official ``watch'' list to ensure that a string of safety violations at Millstone over the past five years comes to an end.

Friedman said the tour is dedicated to the citizens of Ellington, East Windsor and South Windsor.

``We very consciously chose this area as a tribute to the people who worked so hard to resist the siting of a low-level radioactive waste dump'' in 1990-91, she said. ``We think their organization, and the fact that they helped change the siting criteria, are really admirable.''

Another house on the tour was built by Sandra Wakeen, an artist, and her husband Michael Williams, an Ellington High School science teacher.

They had planned a solar-powered house for years, and Williams designed it himself with input from his wife, who insisted on a studio with northern light.

They pay only $700 a year for oil heating, which includes showers for three teenagers.

``When that sun is out in the winter, it doesn't matter how cold it is,'' Wakeen said. ``We don't have to turn the thermostat on until it gets dark. The sun thing really works.''

Besides the five solar-powered houses, those on the tour can visit GreenCycle of the Northeast in Ellington, which will show how it turns leaves into compost.

At the East Windsor Intermediate School, on Main Street in Broad Brook, an exhibit will feature numerous solar-powered devices, including a converted Boston Whaler ship, an electric-powered car built by Bolton High School students, and information about passive solar design.

Tickets for the house tour will be on sale at the school beginning at noon Saturday. The tickets cost $12 per person, but the exhibit is free. The tour and exhibit will last until 5 p.m.